The stories of the various Indian tribes encountered by
Lewis and Clark are fascinating. The descriptions of each individual tribe and
the journey as a whole give the impression that the expedition was wandering
across a sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland, encountering the last remains of
what was a thriving continent. It appears that, though each group encountered
had still managed to keep their culture intact, they had all been decreased
severely in numbers. Smallpox and other diseases had swept from coast to coast
in the New World, leaving devastated villages and cities in their wake.
Despite that, the remaining Indians functioned in a way that
reminds me a bit of Europe. Many ethnically similar groups living in close proximity
to one another had found ways to establish trade relationships with each other
and eith the Eurpoeans, thus ensuring that each had access to the things they
needed.
One particular example that struck me was that of the Teton
Sioux and the Arikaras. The Arikaras were a group of skilled farmers, and the
Teton Sioux were well aware of this. For their part, the Teton Sioux had a
powerful army, but were not nearly as good at growing corn. So the two groups
traded their specialties one for the other, and as a result were able to cling
to their existence in the aftermath of smallpox. The truly interesting thing,
though, is that the Teton Sioux were not friendly towards Lewis or Clark, even
though the Arikara were.
This just shows one way in which Indian relationships must
have been diplomatically complex, because these sorts of alliances could give
the astute observer access to information or goods from an unfriendly culture
by using a friendly one as an intermediary. It’s interesting to me how similar
this seems to the challenges faced by modern diplomats.
Source: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/native/index.html
